Plan Avanza: Information Society Strategy for Spain

Common Challenges and Shared Solutions:
Good Governance in Information Society Strategies
The case of Spain's Plan Avanza

Workshop, 18 November 2009, Madrid

This workshop provided a unique opportunity for policy-makers in Spain and in selected OECD countries to discuss the common challenges inherent to IS strategies and identify good practices in their design and implementation.

Spain’s Plan Avanza was presented as a case study in light of an on-going peer review evaluation being conducted by the OECD. The results of a preliminary analysis of the Plan Avanza’s main objectives, structures and governance mechanisms set the basis for the discussion at the workshop.

The workshop was introduced by:

Mr. Francisco Ros, Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Information Society; Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Spain

Mr. Daniel Torres, Director, National Observatory on Telecommunications and the Information Society, Spain

Ms. Anna Gomez, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, United States

Rationale: IS strategies face an unprecedented opportunity to partake in socio-economic development and contribute to increase the welfare of societies. At the same time, their transversal and multidimensional nature makes them highly complex policies, the success of which often depends on solid governance arrangements and frameworks for design and implementation.

How can IS policies be crafted in such a way to ensure their sustainability and effective contribution to meet socio-economic objectives?

How can IS strategies be shaped to take into account and adapt to changing socio-economic priorities and needs?

Marco Daglio, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, OECD

Session 2

Designing IS strategies: priority setting and strategic sequencing

Rationale: With limited resources for IS initiatives, strategic choices have to be made. Indeed, foresight in the design of IS policies is necessary to facilitate implementation and maximise benefits.

How should policy-makers balance technological dimensions with socio-economic objectives?

Which should be prioritised and in what circumstances?

How do the dynamics of supply and demand influence the sequencing of initiatives? For example, has it been wise to invest initially in the development of digital services, or focus first on a creating a demand for these amongst citizens and firms?

How should strategies balance promotion of the ICT industry and promoting take-up of ICTs in other sectors?

Natalia Nolan, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, OECD

Session 4

Securing adequate organisational and financial resources for IS initiatives

Rationale: IS strategies are complex and are often large in scale and scope. What’s more, they require financial stability for strategic planning, and a cadre of multidisciplinary yet highly-specialised human resources.

How have IS strategies developed the organisational capabilities to meet objectives?

What lessons can IS strategies in OECD countries learn from the challenges that were encountered and overcome by Plan Avanza?